Plunged to the bottom of League Two with the 1-2 reverse against Port Vale, a fug had consumed the terraces with the Conference trapdoor beckoning. Fast forward three weeks, and things are looking up.

It is crisis time at Dagenham and Redbridge FC. It wasn’t long ago that we talked about the Plymouth match in “must-win” terms – we lost that, and the next four. Seven straight defeats, one win in the last twelve matches. That, my friends, is relegation form.

Lately, the Daggers have been on the slide. A painful, jarring slide which makes you wince as you gradually drop to your inevitable fate, powerless to stop the force of gravity. Rather like when you were a child and made the mistake of going to the playground in your shorts before crying in agony as your legs screeched against the metal surface.

Putting the ball in the net. The simple aim of the game of football, yet one that can prove so difficult. Seven games into the season, and it is something the Daggers have managed only 4 times. With several players out injured, there is plenty of time for the tide to turn. But will it?

Just over 2 weeks ago, the Daggers’ relegation back to League Two was confirmed with a crushing 5-0 defeat at Peterborough. Now that huge disappointment has begun to subside, it feels like an appropriate time to pick over the bones of that deflating game, the season as a whole, and what the future might hold.

Last week’s impressive 3-0 win over Carlisle United means the Daggers go into the final game of the season with a shot at retaining their League One status, something which looked so far away after losses to Plymouth and Huddersfield. We look back at those games, and forward to Saturday’s massive occasion.

Following on from part one which took in a run of three defeats against Brighton, Exeter and Peterborough, part two looks at our latest three games which included the visit of Notts County, the return match with the Seagulls, and a trip to the Wirral to take on Tranmere Rovers.